Virus
by ChampagneWishes
Summary: The children of Gotham have been poisoned and Batman is their only chance at surviving, but even Batman is only human. Can Terry find his new foe before its too late?I own none of these characters. Please R
1. Chapter 1

Batman waited in the rafters of the old warehouse, moving cautiously among the beams, below him men in masks were carefully loading large boxes into a truck. The boxes were marked "Caution", and all the workers wore biohazard suits. "What's in the boxes?" Terry whispered the Bruce Wayne.

"A liquid concentration of one of the deadliest viruses known to man, if that hits the water supply, all of Gotham could be eliminated. Make sure that truck doesn't leave. And whatever you do, don't touch it or even smell it."

"Right," Terry sighed, and wished, not for the first time, that _occasionally_ the Gotham police could handle some of these jobs. Then he sprung into action. Two carefully deployed batarangs knocked two men unconcoius, there were only a few men on the job, and only five remained. Three of the men went for their laser guns, one closed the truck gate and the fifth jumped into the driver's seat. Terry swept in, avoiding the laser blasts, and hit one of the men square in the chest, he staggered backwards and fell into one of the crates, the wood cracked under the blow. The man noticed a rent in his suit and quickly back away from the crate, as green smoke and started billowing forth. Terry cursed his luck. These crates were meant to break at any impact, which meant tipping the truck was not an option, and now the truck bay was being opened and the truck was rolling forward. He lept upward and severed the wires connecting the gate to the control panel, the gate ground to a halt, less than a third of the way open. Two men rushed forward to open in further. The one with the torn suit had jumped into the passenger seat of the truck. Terry easily knocked the men opening the door out of the way and went for the driver. The driver flew into reverse and the men who had been going for the door opened fire on Batman. The men inside the truck turned the van so the men could open fire on the door, and hopefully open fire. Batman however realized what they were doing and jumped towards the passenger side.

Still firing at Batman the other two men didn't react quickly enough and a laser pierced the side of the truck, instantly, green gas began to issue from the inside. The men seeing this panicked and raced towards the door. Batman was able to lay out two and drag them outside an tie them up, but two escaped into the night.

"Batman! You need to seal the warehouse! Use your suit's oxygen supply!" Bruce yelled, Terry went back into the warehouse. The thick green smoke was quickly filling the entire room. The main door was jam. He flew upwards and released the cables, and the door crashed into place. To late he noticed that not just green smoke was coming out of the truck, angry grey smoke was swirling upwards from the engine. The men who were shooting must also have hit the truck!

In a boom of fire and smoke the truck exploded, sending Terry hurtling into a wall. His head smashed against the cement and he crumpled to the floor. "Terry!" Bruce yelled, but there was no answer. A warning alarm went off in the Bat Cave, the one that went off when there were toxic levels of poison in the air around the suit; it was a newly installed feature. "Terry!" Bruce yelled again and Terry groaned. "Batman, get out of there!" Terry didn't need to be told twice, his boots fired and he drifted upwards. "Don't breath until you're out of there!" Terry fired harder and speeded towards the ceiling, but he knew he couldn't crash through the windows, the toxin might escape into the air. It took him nearly three minuets to get through the window.

"Hurry!" Bruce urged him, his grizzled voice taking on an edge of panic Terry hadn't heard before.

Terry didn't say anything, he was trying his hardest not to breath, but he was still dizzy from hitting the wall, combined with a lack of oxygen, his vision was spinning. Finally the window was opened. Terry slipped out and closed it behind him. He fell onto his knees on the roof, coughing.

"Terry! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He gasped for air and sat for a moment, resting as police helicopters and fire trucks roared into the ground and air above him. He got into his own plane and flew away.


	2. Virus

"Terry! Wake up! You're going to be late for school!"

"Mmhp?" Terry muttered as his mother shook his shoulder.

"Come on Terry, breakfast in ten minuets."

"Yeah Terry!" Matt bounced into the room, and onto his brother's bed, shaking his shoulder hard. Terry swiped at him and Matt ran off laughing.

"Matt, did you pack your backpack?" Mrs. McGuiness followed her youngest son.

Terry pushed himself upright, he felt sore and achy and his throat hurt, he must be coming down with something. He sighed and pushed himself out of bed, his muscles protesting leaving the warm comfort of his bed, and his head pounded as he sat upright. Automatically he reached for the jar of painkillers beside his bed, and stumbled into the bathroom, he drank a glass of water and took the pills, then went back into his room to get dressed.

"Terry, are you alright?" His mom asked, as he slid into his kitchen chair.

"Fine Mom," he muttered, pouring a glass of orange juice, the last thing he wanted was her fussing over him right now. He still needed to figure out who had manufactured the chemical from the night before. He had managed to obtain a sample of the residue off his suit, before he had showered down in Bruce's biohazard shower. He tried not to wince as the orange juice hit the back of his throat, but it felt raw and tender.

"Rough night?" Max grinned at him, shaking him awake after Terry fell asleep during lab.

"Yeah, and I think I'm getting sick," He confessed.

"Then stay away from me! I don't want your germs," Max laughed and held her binder playfully in front of her face, but Terry wasn't laughing. Oh… you really are sick."

Terry shrugged, "I'll live, its lunch time right?"

"Yup,"

Dana joined them at the table, looking in dismay at the chicken nuggets that were being served. "Do you think these have ever seen an actual chicken?" She asked, squinting at the quivering chunks of fried meat.

"This is why I've gone vegetarian," Max said, pulling out a salad she had brought from home. "I know this is real."

"Hey Terry, you going to eat those?" Howard had already eaten his.

"No, you can have them." Terry pushed the nuggets towards his friend, he wasn't feeling very hungry, he had begun to feel sicker as the day went on.

"Ter, are you okay?" Dana asked, gently putting her hand on his arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He forced a smile, "Just not hungry for processed chicken."

"I don't blame you," She said, taking a bite and making a face.

Across the room there was a loud commotion, several of the jocks had started tossing bits of chicken back and forth to one another, to see who could catch the most pieces in their mouths.

"Looks like Nelson finally found a good sport for that big mouth of his," Howard joked, looking disappointed that fewer people had heard his witty remark. It wasn't often he got in a good insult at Nelson, Max had smiled but Dana seemed focused on Terry, and Terry seemed focus on the tabletop. Howard sighed to himself, it would have been nice to have a girl like Dana pay attention to him like that, and Terry didn't even seem to appreciate it, he wasn't even looking at her! But Dana didn't seem to mind, she just reached out and gently stroked Terry's hair.

Terry lay his head on his arms, and for a moment let himself be perfectly content. He wished he could lay down in a big soft bed and just sleep for about a thousand hours, with Dana lying next to him, stroking his hair, just like this.

"You're the best Dane," he muttered sleepily.

"Don't fall asleep McGuiness, you still have three more classes." She reprimanded him, but her hand never stopped moving. "Can you come to the game tonight?" She asked.

"Yeah, Mr. Wayne gave me the night off." Terry still couldn't believe his good luck, and while he would have rather spent the time sleeping then watching Nelson show off, at least it would be time spent with Dana. Then his cell phone rang. Dana looked at him in dismay, and saw her afternoon with Terry slipping away.

"Be right back," Terry promised, and prayed that it wasn't Bruce calling him in to work. "Hello?" he answered, when he was out of range of other students.

"Terry, I just finished tests on your suit."

"And?"

"The chemical is extremely hazardous but the virus is not a contagion, it needs to infect people directly. Last night, did you breathe it in?"

"Uh…" he tried to think back, but everything was a little blurry.

"Are you feeling okay today?"

"I'm a little under the weather, but nothing serious."

"Terry, I think you've been infected. I need a blood sample right away."

"I'm in school!" Terry said, saying good bye to his afternoon with Dana.

"Go to the nurse, I'm sure they'll send you home. They still have sick days right?"

"Not without calling my mother."

"I'm sending the car for you."

Terry sighed, "I'll be outside in twenty minuets." And he went inside to give Dana the bad news.

"Hey!" Dana cried out with surprise when Terry appeared at the game. "You made it!" She smiled. "How was the dentist?" The only excuse he had been able to come up with…

"Not to bad," He sat down next to Dana on the bleachers. Bruce was testing his blood, and he didn't want him out patrolling while he might be seriously ill. He had told Bruce he had gone home to rest. The old man probably knew better. "How's the game?"

"Not so great, two of the players got sick in school today, so they're short a few, and Nelson's been slagging, but the other team isn't doing very well either. It's been kind of lame…" The game went on for a few more minuets, when suddenly Nelson got slammed into a side panel, and didn't move. The anxious crowd jumped to their feet. The trainer rushed out, and Nelson was carried off. "That doesn't look good," Dana said.

"No…" Terry watched, not feeling completely sorry for the large brute. "Want to get out of here? Get a bite to eat?"

"Terry… I don't feel very good… can we go home?"

"Sure, what's wrong?" He felt a moment of panic, was Bruce wrong, had he passed the virus onto Dana?

"I dunno… my throat just feels kind of scratchy, like I'm coming down with something, I just want to go home and get some rest. Sorry, I hate wasting your day off but I don't want to get you sick."

"No problem," Terry kissed her forehead, it did feel rather warm, his stomach tightened but he didn't say anything, just helped Dana to her feet and wrapped his coat around her as he walked her to the car. "You going to be okay to drive?" He hunched his shoulders, the cool breeze was getting to him, he hoped Dana didn't notice.

"Yeah, it's just a cold, I'll be fine." Terry felt his stomach knot tighter.

"Alright," he gave her a kiss on the cheek, and walked towards his bike, but not before flicking a tracker onto her bumper.

"Terry, explain to me again what you're doing," Bruce sounded annoyed.

"I'm just following Dana home, makes sure she gets there safely, I'm worried the fever could worsen suddenly." He drove his bike in between two cars, "then I'm coming to the cave."

"You should be in bed resting, until we have a more solid lead."

"I might not have time for that!" Terry insisted. Dana pulled off her exit ramp and he couldn't follow her any longer, it would have been to obvious, but he had the tracker programmed with an alarm to go off if the car stopped before a pre-programmed destination. He rode to Bruce's house, trying to ignore the cold wind whipping at his bare arms.

"Take a look at that," Bruce was hunched over a microscope, barely noticing as Terry entered the cave shivering. Normally the cool cave didn't bother him, but after the rather cold bike ride, Terry had no reserves left to keep his body warm. He tried to hide his shaking hands, as he bent over the lens. Inside, it looked like cells were being massacred.

"What is that?" he asked, through chattering teeth.

"That's your blood."

"Oh…"

"In a contained environment the cells are being destroyed at a much higher rate than they are in your body, but we still don't have much time to find an antidote."

"Any luck with that?"

"None so far,"

"Dana got sick, your wrong about it not being contagious." Terry said quietly, "Now it's not just me at risk."

Bruce shook his head, "that's not possible. If she's sick, it must have come from another source." Terry's cell phone rang, it was his mother.

"Hi Mom,"

"Terry?" her voice sounded anxious. "Matt just got home from school, he's not feeling well and he's running a high fever, I'm taking him over to the Clinic. I was just calling to see if you were sick."

"I'm okay," Terry lied. "I'm with Mr. Wayne right now, call me when you know more about Matt."

"Alright, if you start feeling sick, please come home or go to the Clinic."

"Okay." Terry hung up and grimaced, "Matt's sick now. I'm telling you I'm contagious!"

"Not unless you've contaminated the entire city…" Bruce had flicked on the television.

"In breaking news, a mass epidemic has broken out amongst the cities youth, officials are reporting an overflow in hospitals and medical clinics across the city, as concerned parents are rushing their kids in for treatment. Unfortunately, as of this time the virus is unknown. Mostly the symptoms seem to be that of the flu, but there have been several reported cases of victims fainting and some cannot be revived. Fear and panic are beginning to set in. So far the virus only seems to have affected school-age children, and experts are rushing to find a link. The virus is reported to not be airborne, but most of the schools have been closed as a precaution."

Bruce turned off the TV and turned to Terry solemnly, "Terry, you should know, I believe this virus causes the human body to begin to breakdown, and causes a high fever. This virus, if left uncured will kill its host."


	3. Chicken Nuggets

Terry stared at Bruce, "So Dana… Matt…? I need to call Max…"

"What?" Bruce looked at Terry, had the fever gone to his brain?

"She lives alone… if she's sick then I need to make sure she gets to the hospital…" Terry said dialing.

"Hello?"

"Max?" Terry felt his breathing relax, slightly.

"Uh…. Yeah? Terry, you sound… is everything okay?"

"I was calling you to ask the same thing, are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, fine, why shouldn't I be?"

"Max, haven't you seen the news, everyone's sick."

"Sorry, I've been doing homework all day, haven't watched TV."

"Well, I'm glad your okay… wait, why are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"Apparently everyone is sick… and you're not."

"Neither are you!" Max shot back, "Maybe cause we didn't eat those nuggets…" She joked weakly.

"Max, you're a genious!"

"I know, what did I say?"

"Do me a favor, call Howard."

"What? Why?"

"If he's sick, then I know it's the nuggets."

"Why can't you call?"

"I need to get over to the school."

"Alright, fine."

"Bruce, I have a lead!" Terry said, pulling on his bat suit.

"Terry… what?"

"The virus was spread through the schools, that's the only way it would be hitting all these kids. I think it might have been through our lunches. Max and I are the only ones who didn't eat the chicken nuggets today at lunch. That's why she…" Bruce gave him a look, "isn't sick, and I'm not as sick as most kids."

"With this virus oral injection would cause more of a reaction than airborne…" Bruce muttered to himself. "Alright, go, but be careful!"

"Right," Terry got into his plane and shot off into the early evening. Bruce looked at Terry's vitals as they registered on his computer, and tapped his fingers nervously. The boys fever was climbing, and his pulse was high. The virus was taking its toll.

Terry let himself into the kitchen at the school, it was far cleaner than he had expected, and he found it heartening, until he saw a rat skittering across the floor, "think is can get school closed for a couple of weeks if I report rat infestation?" Terry asked over the com link.

"Stay focused!" Bruce ordered, he wanted Terry to be in and out as soon as possible. Maybe he could give Terry a fever suppressant, keep the virus from frying his brain, the boy's fever had started climbing fast. He must have taken something this morning, that was now wearing off. He'd soon be feeling the effects.

"I'm going to look in the freezer," Terry said, "see if I can find today's leftovers, I don't really want to go through the trash." He pulled open the large metal door, and sighed when he saw piles of boxes lined up, "this could take awhile." He began going through the boxes as quickly as possible, but he soon began to shiver violently. His suit was trying to regulate his temperature, and with a high temperature from within, it was drawing in the cold hoping to cool down his core temperature. Terry didn't want to admit his discomfort so he just moved as quickly as possible. Finally, he found a box with the correct label and did a scan, using the sample collected off his suit last night. "I'm getting a weird reading off these…" Terry said, trying to not let his teeth chatter as he spoke.

"The cold must have killed the virus… or the virus needs to be heated to be activated."

"Right," Terry sighed, "Dumpster diving it is?"

"'Fraid so…"

"Well?" Bruce asked, as Terry scanned several nugget bits he had managed to find in the trash.

"I'm getting the same reading off these as I was from the ones in the freezer. Is it possible the virus needs to be at body heat to be activated? Or maybe the process of digestion? The virus seems to take several hours to take over the host, which would mean…"

"Terry, don't even think of eating one of those!"

"What choice do I have? If it needs the human body…"

"Right, well come back here with one, and get one from the freezer."

"I was going to do that!" Terry said, immediately feeling immense relief that he was not going to have to eat his dumpster food. He had been dreading that, but for Matt and Dana…

Terry looked at the nugget with trepidation, he wasn't sure he was really ready to go through with this, "So if I get sicker within the next three hours, we'll know."

"For you, it will be shorter, the virus is already in your system. Terry, this could kill you… Maybe it's better if I take it." Bruce offered.

"No, I need to do this. For my brother, you might come up with an antidote. I know I can't do that."

"Right, but the antidote might be not be made in time for you."

"I know…"


	4. Hazardous Goodbyes

Terry took a bite and chewed, he was about to swallow when a newscaster came on. "This just in, a statement has been issued from a terrorist!"

_"Greetings Gotham, the name is Biohazard!" _Terry stared at the new villain, forgetting to chew or swallow. He was dressed in a green suit, with two black bands around his upper arms, and he wore an old-fashioned looking biohazard mask, Terry had seen the masks on old movies about terrorist threats during the early Thousands, apparently people had taken to wearing them after the announcement of a chemical warefare threat. _" I know you all got a taste of my new virus, I hope you like it! Giving it the kids, not very nice I know… but kids do love their school lunches." _Terry remember the piece of food and spat out the nugget, sending up a silent prayer of thanks that he hadn't swallowed, maybe he'd escape the worst of the effects. _"I have here, an antidote. But well, giving it away for free, just isn't my style. I want Zander, leader of the Cobras, dead at my feet! Then you will have your antidote!" _The news clicked off.

"Zander?" Terry had a flashback to the cold hearted boy who had turned into a T-Rex, and had then died in a fiery crash, that had also taken Terry's Sensei. "Guess this guy isn't up on his news..." Terry said, slumping into a chair. "I wonder why he wants Zander… Something about that guy's voice, it sounded familiar. Do you still have all the tapes recorded from my suit?"

"Sure, but there's hours and hours…"

"Is there anyway to do a voice match? If I know who it is, maybe I can track him down."

"That could take awhile, and I'm worried we don't have the time."

"I know, but I want to go see Matt."

Bruce just nodded, his young protégé had started taking charge more and more. He was proud of him. And he could loose him.

"Terry!" His mom stood up when he came into the Clinic and through her arms around his neck. "Terry, your burning up!" She said, feeling his forehead."

"No, I'm fine, I'm just worried about Matt."

"Terry, everyone is sick, how could you not be?"

"I didn't eat those nuggets today, can I see Matt?"

"Yes, he's sleeping,"

Terry went into the room and took a chair and sat next to his little brother. He stroked his brother's forehead gently. The room was crowded with other patients, some cried for parents others feverishly moaned and tossed and turned. He stood and looked around, looking at Biohazards work and felt his gut twisting anger and rage. How could someone do this? To children! To get back at Cobra? There could be one person…

His phone rang and he answered it, "Terry, I found a match."

"I already know,"

"How's Matt?"

"He's not going to die. Not if I can help it!" Terry hissed. He kissed his mother goodbye, told her he was going to see Dana. She looked hurt, as though Terry should have been sitting vigil by his brother's bedside, not rushing off to see his girlfriend.

"Matt's going to be okay, I promise." Terry said, and then he was gone.

Terry slipped into Dana's hospital room though an open window, her father had managed to get her a private room, "_it's amazing what money can do even in a crisis_," Terry thought, but he was glad for the privacy, he was dressed as Batman, except for his facemask. She was asleep, dark hair spread out over her pillow. Her stats indicated a high fever. Bruce had started to yell at him, but Terry had ignore him, and Bruce had let him go. Bruce knew that this could be Good Bye, and held his tongue. With the girl's high fever, it seemed highly unlikely she would even remember the incident.

Terry went to her bedside, and knelt down, so he could lean against the bed and cover the tips of the red wings. He gently stroked his girlfriend's hair. She moaned and opened her eyes, "Terry," her voice was soft, the circles under her eyes made them look like impossibly deep pools of black.

"I'm here Dana," he reached out and took her hand.

"Terry, I'm scared."

"Me too," he rested a hand on her cheek. "But I promise everything is going to be okay." He stroked her dark hair away from her forehead, until she drifted back into her restless fevered sleep, he was sure she would remember nothing of his visit, it would be like a dream. It was probably better that way. He dropped silently from the window and into his plane. He had to find False Face.


	5. Wreckage

"I thought I left him for dead in that alley." Terry said as he zoomed high above the city in the plane. "I'm not surprised he wants revenge on Cobra for what they did to him. Where can he have been that he didn't know about Cobra's fall?"

"I think we have to wait to find him before we can start asking him questions." Bruce said, his voice was tense. So far he had failed to come up with an antidote, everything he did seemed to make the virus either mutate or spread faster, and Terry's fever was climbing, but Terry seemed to be fighting it.

"Do you think we can find him?" He was scanning the city trying to find traces of the virus using its DNA code. A hot spot could indicate where False Face was hiding. Right now he was scanning all the food packaging plants, but so far he had found nothing. Bruce could hear the edge of fear creeping into Terry's voice, although he kept his voice level, as though this was an ordinary mission, flushing out some Jokerz or going up against Mad Stan, not fighting to save his life, as well as the lives of thousands of others.

"Barbara contacted me, informed me that Biohazard has given them a location to bring 'Zander' too, but without Zander…"

"Why can't he just demand money like a normal criminal?" Terry tried to joke, but he was tired. So tired. And he'd developed a cough, which was interesting because that was not one of the symptoms. Bruce's theory was that he had inhaled it, rather than ingested it orally and that was causing the cough. "Bruce, even if he does have an antidote… there's no way he has enough to cure thousands of kids."

"Our only hope is that we find it soon and can replicate it, and it's not a complicated process, the sickest will receive the antidote first and the rest will have to wait." Terry pushed his plane faster, thinking about Matt. For some of them, it was already too late. Bruce had told him that already several kids who had slipped into coma's had died. He called his mother often to check on Matt's condition, which so far was stable, but for how much longer? He knew his mother was upset that he wasn't at the hospital, the Dana excuse could only hold up for so long… Finally him and Bruce had concocted a story that the city was going to be locked down, until the virus was cured and Bruce was on the committee to prevent this from happening. Every scientist in the country who could was rushing into Gotham to try and find an antidote, and a lockdown would prevent this, Bruce needed his help. His mother actually bought the story and even encouraged him. The truth was, there were no scientists coming and although an official announcement hadn't been made the city had been completely cut of from any travel to the rest of the country. Terry hoped they would hold off on the announcement, which so far they had and there had no urgent rushes to leave Gotham, oddly enough, probably because most people with children couldn't leave. Gotham was on its own, as usual.

"Bruce… the warehouse where the truck exploded, do you think its been completely cleaned up yet?" A sudden brainstorm his him.

"With the efforts for the virus, I doubt it." Bruce stroked his chin, wondering what Terry was thinking.

"Maybe there was some kind of tagging or something on the truck, someway to trace where it came from." Bruce smiled to himself, impressed by the young man's sudden insite.

"Go, and hurry." Bruce said.

"Looks like it hasn't been cleaned out yet…" Terry looked at the thick green smoke swirling beneath him.

"Terry, this could be too dangerous, you might not make it out of there."

"This could also be the only chance. I have to take it. After this I'm going to that volcano and seeing if I can resurrect a T-Rex. I'd rather take my chances with the gas. I didn't like Zander much as a person, as a dinosaur he was unbearable. Some dinosaurs are just nicer than others." Bruce ignored the quip about his age.

"Just be careful, Terry."

Terry immediately took back his sarcastic comments, he knew how dangerous what he was about to do was, if Bruce was using his first name… He hovered for a few moments in his plane and then let himself drop onto the roof. He pried open the exit he had escaped from the other night and let himself inside, this time he made sure to have his oxygen mask on.

The green gas swirled around him, obscuring his vision. The charred wreckage of the truck was strewn about as were the empty, leaking crates. He crept about, turning over large pieces of the mangled truck, looking for an sign of identification. He moved carefully, barely able to see

A large piece of the back door had been blasted towards the back of the warehouse, and there printed on it in large blue and pink letters were the words "Smiley's Candy Factory- a thousand smiles manufactured a day!" Unable to speak he held up the sign in front of the mask until Bruce had realized his meaning. Terry couldn't talk with the breath piece in his mouth.

"It's closed down now," Bruce said, typing as fast as he could, "has been for about ten years. I think that sounds like it's worth a look. Now get out of there, your oxygen's running low."

"Terry shot upwards towards his exit. He started to pry open his entry and exit but it was jammed. He heaved his body against it but no avail, the window refused to budge. He couldn't break it, the green gas would leak into the city. "Terry get out of there."

"It's stuck!" Terry said, then stuck the oxygen back into his mouth.

"You have about thirty seconds left air!" Terry shoved harder, but still nothing, his air was getting thinner. He pulled the oxygen off and shoved as hard as he could, but nothing. His air supply was gone.


	6. Promises

"Terry!" Bruce yelled. Finally the door gave and Terry flew into the cool night air, gasping for breath then quickly closed the hatch. He landed on the roof and coughed. Drops of blood splattered the ground. "Are you alright?"

"Need to get that antidote…" Terry said, hauling himself up and climbing into the plane, practically collapsing into the seat. He heaved and tried to steady himself, but his vision was swimming, he punched in the cooridinates Bruce had given him and the plane shot off into the night. Terry let it fly autopilot, he was in no shape to flying the plane, how could he fight False Face, if he even managed to find him?

Bruce sat, clenched in his chair, Terry was dying. If he didn't get the antidote soon. He had been exposed now three times, he wasn't even sure how the kid was still standing. He looked again at the Petri dish that had held a sample of Terry's blood, it had turned a sickly shade of yellow, the red blood cells had been completely destroyed. Then the phone rang. He recognized the caller ID.

"Terry, your mother's on the phone,"

"Right," his voice was weak, but he linked it in the plane, Bruce listened, "Mom?"

"Terry, its Matt… he's… he's in a coma."

"What?" Terry gasped, it was like everything was spinning, or it would have, but the plane was moving so fast. He felt like he was going to be sick. "No… this can't be happening." He felt an urge to scream, but his lungs would probably explode from the effort, as it was he could barely breathe.

"Is there any luck getting the scientists into town?" His mom asked, gently, still so full of hope.

"There are no scientists coming Mom." Terry said quietly.

"What? But you said…"

"I lied…"

"Where are you? Your brother's dying and you're off… god knows where doing god knows what! Terry, I swear if… if…" There was nothing she could say. Her son was dying, and her other son didn't even seem to care. He had lied to her.

"Mom, I swear," Terry felt tears forming in his eyes, "I am doing everything I can to make sure Matt's okay, I promise!"

"You should be here beside him!" She yelled.

"That wouldn't help him Mom! Believe me, what I'm doing right now, there's a chance I'll be able to save him, please Mom, try and believe me."

"I'm trying I just can't believe that you could be anywhere but here with him."

"Mom, if it was up to me, I'd be there! But it's not just about Matt. Thousands of kids are dying right now, I'm… Bruce and I… we're doing everything we can. Please trust me. Matt is not going to die."

The plane circled over the candy factory, and then crashed down through one of the glass windows. _To hell with subtlety! _He thought, as he brought the entire plane down through the window.

"Terry!" Bruce hollered at him, but the words were only in the back of his mind. The security guards bolted when the black plane came in through the window, a few opened fire from a safe distance, but they were too far away to cause any damage. Terry hopped out of the plane, and yelled "FALSE FACE!"

"The name's Biohazard, Batman!" The green-suited man appeared out the shadows. "How did you even find me?" Terry realized his voice was breathy.

"Doesn't matter, where's the antidote?" The room spun, Terry tried not to fall to his knees, he realized his reflexes were off, when he realized all around him men were approaching with guns drawn.

"Now why would I give it to you?"

"Zander's dead, I killed him. That was the ransom you demanded."

"Do you have any proof?"

"He's been dead for months, where have you been?"

"Recovering, from that nasty little bug those vipers gave me." Biohazard spat, "So now you just expect me to hand over the antidote?"

"Or, I could kill you."

"That would accomplish nothing."

"Trust me, I have nothing to loose."

The plastic eyes of the suit looked at him, "So you've been exposed have you? You must have breathed some of the gas when you interrupted my men. I guess you've figured out by now that its much more potent when consumed orally. Now, here's the dilemma. I give you the antidote, you live. I don't know if I want that. If you hadn't stopped the Cobra's I would have been administered the antidote, instead you left me for dead! Just kill him." False Face turned and walked away and his men opened fire, but Terry was too quick and these were cheap body guards. False Face had clearly spent his money on the distribution of his product.

Terry shot upwards and the men tried to aim, but all missed, only a few even came close. Batman dropped a smoke bomb and the men scattered, coughing. Then he dove and knocked False Face to the ground. That was when he saw it, an oxygen pack, with a wire running into the suit, "I'm willing to bet, that if I cut this, you die." He felt False Face tense beneath him. "Where's the antidote?"


	7. Secrets

_In Breaking News… The city breathes a sigh of relief tonight as Batman delivered the antidote supply to hospitals across the city. Every patient was treated before the supply ran out. The outbreak was traced to tainted food sources and schools will remain closed until all food can be thoroughly examined._

Terry trudged into the hospital, unsure how he even managed to put one foot in front of the other. His brother, was he okay? As if in answer to his question, he heard a voice. "Terry!" His mother appeared, and rushed forward wrapping her arms around him. "Did you hear, the antidote was delivered!"

"So Matt's?"

"He's going to be fine…"

"Good…"

"Terry, are you alright? Terry! I need help here!" Mrs. McGuiness screamed to anyone who could hear her as her son dropped unconscious to the floor.

"Only you would manage to get pneumonia and the virus," Max raised an eyebrow at Terry, who was settled on a couch at home. He had been released from the hospital two days earlier, after over a week there. The doctors told him he had been lucky, his fever had been so high, permanent brain damage could have been done. Terry figured he must have gotten pneumonia while his immune system was so weak.

His mother still hadn't asked exactly how he had been helping get the antidote, she had been too busy fussing over his health, and feeling guilty that she hadn't realized he was sick. She should have forced him to be checked into the hospital.

Actually, she had decided Terry had been having fever induced hallucinations about trying to help his brother, and just let it drop, although she still couldn't figure out why Bruce had been helping him. But did it matter? Both her sons were alive, and soon they'd both be healthy again.

"When you're feeling up to it," Max slapped a pile of books down, "your homework."

"Thanks," Terry croaked. Max still hadn't heard the whole story, Terry was still pretty sick. The antidote, when he had finally received it, barely registered any effect, because the pneumonia was driving up his temperature as well. At first the doctors had just assumed he was sick like all the others, but when Terry still had a dangerously high fever after several days and a second round of the antidote hadn't worked, they had realized that he had become ill with something else. She looked at him, his eyes were still glazed with fever, and he looked out of it. She felt a new respect for him, he had been sicker than this and somehow he had still managed to save Gotham. She was pretty sure that if his mother turned her back for even a moment he'd probably jump out a window and into his plane. This was why he was Batman. He'd probably be out patrolling before he'd be well enough to go back to school. She was dying to ask when he planned to don the cowl again- but his mother was in the other room. What Max also couldn't figure out was why Terry hadn't administered the antidote to himself. Then she realized he probably hadn't even thought of it. He was too busy thinking about everyone else.

"You going to live?" She asked, trying mask her real concern was sarcasm.

"Think so," he smiled drowsily.

"Hi Dana," Mrs. McGuiness smiled when she saw her son's girlfriend, she had been trying to leave the house to run some errands but she was afraid to leave her son alone. He was still so sick.

"Hi, is Terry up for a visit?"

"I was actually hoping I could run out for few errands, but I didn't want to leave him home alone… so I'd actually really appreciate it…"

"No problem," Dana smiled.

"Hey," Terry opened his eyes and smiled when Dana came in, he hadn't seen her yet. He knew she was okay, Max had given him an update, but it still felt good to see her with his own eyes.

"Hey, how are you feeling," She pulled a chair up beside the couch and took his hand, it was cold and clammy.

"Great, think I'll be going back to school in a day or two." She knew he was lying, or wanted to believe it, but they both knew it wasn't true. She brushed the hair away from his sweaty forehead. She had never seen Terry sick before, it was weird. He looked so… vulnerable.

"Any weird dreams?" She asked innocently, "when I was sick, I had the weirdest dreams…"

Terry tensed slightly, he knew what was coming, "Really, like what?"

"You came to me in the hospital, but you were dressed as Batman. I mean, you were Batman, you even put up that hood he wears and flew off into the night. And the strange part was… when I woke up, my window was open."

"That's a weird dream…"

"I had a lot of weird dreams," Dana confessed, "But that one, I was almost sure was real!" She looked into his light blue eyes, but they revealed nothing.

"I love you Dana,"

"I love you too…" His eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep, but he was almost sure he heard Dana whisper, "I love you too, Batman…"


	8. Epilogue

Bruce looked Terry up and down when Terry appeared in the Bat Cave, "You shouldn't be out of bed." He said gruffly.

"Good to see you too old man, I figured I might as well get the lecture over with."

"What lecture?"

"The one I'm sure is coming for letting Biohazard get away," Bruce didn't say anything, "What?"

"You could have died, and it would have been my fault. I let you get exposed three times."

"But I didn't, not yet anyway." He smiled, "I was thinking I'd go on patrol tonight. Jokerz are getting rowdy."

"You sure you're up to it?" His protégé still looked pretty sick, but he already knew what the answer would be.

**Woohoo! Finished my first fanfic! Thank you everyone who read it (esp. those of you who wrote such nice reviews!)**

**Please check out my newest Batman Beyond fic- DarkSide**


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